Star Wars The Old Republic European Beta Delayed

Bad news here for Star Wars The Old Republic fans in Europe, as Bioware have postponed beta invites for prospective testers to a later unspecified date. Community chief Chris Collins broke the news to European followers on the official Star Wars The Old Republic forum, promising to bring news of a revised beta date very soon. He did, however, move to assure fans that nothing was wrong with the game, citing an imminent improved build tailored to the European market as the main reason behind the delay.

"After a lengthy discussion here at the BioWare offices, the decision has been made to postpone the proposed Game Testing invites for EU players for a number of reasons," reads Collins' statement on the Bioware forums. "Firstly, there’s a new build of the game on the horizon. This is a major build, meaning there will be character wipes and a new client to download." Collins explains that, were Bioware to release the current beta build to fans - which clocks in at a hefty 27 GB - there's "every chance" the new and improved build would be rolled out and players would be forced to wipe their games, download another 27 GB file and begin anew. "This is a relatively large amount to download in such a short space of time and not an experience we want new testers to be exposed to," he added.

Furthermore, this upcoming build Collins mentions is the first localised version of Star Wars The Old Republic, which means French and German players can enjoy the game in their own language. Collins admits a technical issue arose two weeks ago, preventing Bioware from inviting EU players to test the game. Had the issue not emerged, players could have been enjoying the game for over two weeks, he laments.

Collins urged fans to remain patient, and remember that even if you miss out on this upcoming beta test, more Game Testing weekends will be rolling out in the near future. [Bioware Forums]